Problem description and troubleshooting steps to date below. Looking for any and all ideas for future troubleshooting. This is a fairly rare problem and my schedule almost never permits me to drop everything and troubleshoot right when it happens, so I'd welcome any ideas that might help me duplicate the problem and/or focus my efforts.
Voxx ACA800 license plate camera
Kenwood DMX908S touchscreen
Both professionally installed in our 2011 BMW 328i by a licensed dealer of both products, a little over a year ago.
The vast majority of the time, zero issues. Then, when the temp drops and it rains, 50/50 chance this happens:
The top ~25% of the screen is the actual camera image, albeit a bit washed out. The rest is garble.
When temps were stable – including this past winter, even in snowstorms – it was fine. Rain, snow, or cold individually don't seem to cause the problem. The problem seems to happen when the temp changes (downward) and/or the rain starts. Could be wrong on that but that seems to be the trend, from memory. It's certainly the trend in the past several weeks.
I've taken it back to the installer multiple times over the past year. They couldn't duplicate the issue even by spraying the camera with water. All connections appeared strong and free of corrosion. Wiggling the camera does nothing. No visible condensation behind the lens.
The camera seems to have two grounds: one to the car's body and one through the connector to the touchscreen. The installer moved the body ground to a different location on the trunklid and it seemed to help (prior to that, the whole screen was garble and the problem happened more frequently).
Then, after a few recurrences, the camera died completely. Black screen in all conditions. Installer replaced the camera under warranty, and the replacement was fine until a few days ago.
I was able to bring it back to the installer earlier this week. They again couldn't duplicate the issue. They moved the body ground again; this time, they fished it through a guide for the stock wiring harness into the trunk and fastened it to what looks like an unused factory grounding point on the trunk sheetmetal. Then, today, temps dipped slightly and it started raining, and the problem came back.
The touchscreen is working perfectly with zero other glitches AFAICT (knock on wood).
The installer is closing its car AV department this week, so I'm on my own with this now.
Anyone seen something like this? I'm doing my own digging but it's hard to sift through inapplicable search results (e.g. factory systems, cameras obscured by water but not malfunctioning due to it). What do y'all think?
Voxx ACA800 license plate camera
Kenwood DMX908S touchscreen
Both professionally installed in our 2011 BMW 328i by a licensed dealer of both products, a little over a year ago.
The vast majority of the time, zero issues. Then, when the temp drops and it rains, 50/50 chance this happens:
The top ~25% of the screen is the actual camera image, albeit a bit washed out. The rest is garble.
When temps were stable – including this past winter, even in snowstorms – it was fine. Rain, snow, or cold individually don't seem to cause the problem. The problem seems to happen when the temp changes (downward) and/or the rain starts. Could be wrong on that but that seems to be the trend, from memory. It's certainly the trend in the past several weeks.
I've taken it back to the installer multiple times over the past year. They couldn't duplicate the issue even by spraying the camera with water. All connections appeared strong and free of corrosion. Wiggling the camera does nothing. No visible condensation behind the lens.
The camera seems to have two grounds: one to the car's body and one through the connector to the touchscreen. The installer moved the body ground to a different location on the trunklid and it seemed to help (prior to that, the whole screen was garble and the problem happened more frequently).
Then, after a few recurrences, the camera died completely. Black screen in all conditions. Installer replaced the camera under warranty, and the replacement was fine until a few days ago.
I was able to bring it back to the installer earlier this week. They again couldn't duplicate the issue. They moved the body ground again; this time, they fished it through a guide for the stock wiring harness into the trunk and fastened it to what looks like an unused factory grounding point on the trunk sheetmetal. Then, today, temps dipped slightly and it started raining, and the problem came back.
The touchscreen is working perfectly with zero other glitches AFAICT (knock on wood).
The installer is closing its car AV department this week, so I'm on my own with this now.
Anyone seen something like this? I'm doing my own digging but it's hard to sift through inapplicable search results (e.g. factory systems, cameras obscured by water but not malfunctioning due to it). What do y'all think?
Last edited:
